Yaxel Lendeborg

Yaxel Lendeborg was born into a basketball family, with both his parents having been strong players in the Dominican Republic. He began his college career at Arizona Western, a junior college. He broke out in his second season following a redshirt campaign in 2020-21. During his 2021-22 season, he led the conference in rebounds (11.0 RPG) and was named a NJCAA All-American. The next season, Lendeborg led the NJCAA in rebounds (13.0 RPG) and averaged 17.2 PPG. UAB was his next stop, where he made an immediate impact. In his two UAB seasons (2023-24 and 2024-25), Lendeborg was named All-AAC First Team, AAC All-Tournament, and AAC Defensive Player of the Year. As a senior, he averaged 17.7 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.2 assists, 1.8 blocks and 1.7 steals with 52/36/76 shooting splits. Lendeborg's year-over-year development is staggering given that he only began playing high-level basketball in the past six years. He's shown an ability to affect every part of the game and has been able to flirt with triple-doubles while being an elite defender. His versatility allows him to take on a high-usage role when needed or support other players by rebounding, facilitating and playing defense. Shooting is the last stage of Lendeborg's development, but he's made strides there like he's made everywhere else. Lendeborg has all the tools necessary to fit in anywhere he's drafted, especially if his 3-point shooting becomes more consistent. Depending on lineup construction and need, he should be able to find minutes at forward or center, and a frontcourt sixth-man path feels within his grasp. Depending on where Lendeborg lands and where his development ultimately takes him, he shares some playstyle similarities to players like Paul Millsap, Jeff Green and Andrei Kirilenko.